It’s time to introduce our second issue of Wild Roof Journal. To begin, we’d like to thank everyone who submitted their work. Although we cannot include everyone who submits to our calls, we truly appreciate everyone who took the time to send their work to us! For those of you who appear in this issue, congratulations! If you take a look at our first issue, you’ll see that you’re in excellent company, and we’re glad to have you join our list of contributors.

In addition, thank you to our readers. The number of views for the first issue exceeded our expectations, and within only a few days after making it live, our audience extended across the globe. It’s an honor to be able to present the work of our contributors within the context of Wild Roof, and we’re excited to be working on some new ideas as our readership grows.

At the time of writing this, it will go without saying that during the past weeks/months, many people have had to deviate from their normal routines, altering their daily social interactions with families and friends, navigating remote technologies with school and work. Considering this reality, I will simply point out that I am sharing the artistic expressions that are contained in this issue in hope that they will help in some small way connect us to what is meaningful. Although a piece of artwork or a poem can be enjoyed from a distance, participating in this kind of self-expression connects us intimately—whether through creating and sharing it at an artist or by thoughtfully engaging with it as an art-lover. While the in-person art openings and poetry readings will resume in due time, there’s no time like the present to linger a bit in our digital galleries, take in the work of the artists and writers on display, maybe even reach out to a few of your favorites. I hope you will spend some time with these works and consider supporting them with a click on their links, a like, or a follow.

As with our first issue, the second installment contains a selection of visual art, poetry, and prose, along with an excellent artist feature interview (which is a great starting point if you’re new to the website). There are three long-form pieces that provide a deeper-dive for any quarantined readers in need of some more substantial content. Click here for a Poe-inspired experimental fiction, here for a lovely philosophical essay with a narrative twist, and here for a gem of an essay with an environmental connection.

I’m excited to share this issue with you and look forward to continuing the expand the reach of the journal as we begin to make preparations for Issue #3.

Enjoy!

Aaron Lelito – Founder & Editor in Chief